Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
What is Education for Sustainability?
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
By sustainability we mean:
“improving quality of life—economically, socially, and environmentally—for all, now and for future generations.”
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
A framework for education for sustainability
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
The 4 C’s of EFS
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
Placed-Based Education
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
Ladder of Place-Based Learning
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
Moving from Wonder to Action
Special thanks to our colleague, Ewa Smuk, in Poland for helping us develop this graphic.
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
The Big Ideas of Sustainability
• Ability to make a difference• Change over time• Community• Cycles• Diversity• Equilibrium• Equity/Fairness• Interdependence• Limits• Long-term effects• Place• Systems
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
K-12 Scope & Sequence of the Big Ideas of Sustainability
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
Big Ideas and Essential Questions
Community:What is a community?
Interdependence:What can communities learn from natural systems to improve our common future?
Cycles:What cycles are we a part of?
Change over time:How do living things adapt to changes in their environment?
Fairness / Equity:How should we balance the rights of individuals with the common good?
Place:How does where we live impact how we live?
Ability to make a difference:How do individuals’ choices affect themselves, their communities, and the world?
Long-term effects:In what ways does how we live today impact how people live in the future?
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
• Where might there be opportunities for students to do community-based research on the features that they consider most vital to community well-being?
• Where might there be opportunities for them to act on what they learn from that research?
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
Healthy Neighborhoods/Healthy Kids
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
Project Flow
1. STUDY NEIGHBORHOOD and PLACE
2. DEFINE QUALITY of LIFE
3. CREATE NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT CARDS
4. CONDUCT A NEIGHBORHOOD WALK
5. SHARE RESULTS
6. PLAN A PROJECT
7. CELEBRATE and REFLECT
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
Healthy Neighborhoods/Healthy Kids
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
Spectrum of Youth Engagement
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
What does Education for Sustainability look like in….
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
What does Education for Sustainability look like in….
• Reading– Primary: Picture book collections on gardening,
compost, and animal life cycles are used to enhance social studies and science units.
– Secondary: Students launch a study of local food systems by reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma Young Reader’s Edition.
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
What does Education for Sustainability look like in….
• Writing– Primary: Students create posters to inform the
community about local maple sugaring process from sugar bush to table.
– Secondary: Students write speeches to persuade school board members to adopt a “green school” purchasing policy or an “affirmative hiring” policy
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
What does Education for Sustainability look like in….
• Math– Primary: Students create quality of life report
cards and collect data on these indicators in their neighborhood.
– Secondary: Students collect and compile data on energy use or on student dropout rates on the school’s campus, and analyze it to find area for improvement.
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
What does Education for Sustainability look like in….
• Social Studies– Primary: Students explore how local businesses
operate and how services offered in the community change to meet consumers’ needs.
– Secondary: Students host a politicians’ forum prior to election day and prepare questions for the candidates.
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
What does Education for Sustainability look like in….
• Science– Primary: Students conduct water quality analysis
of rivers in the watershed and present their findings and recommendations to the local natural resource agency.
– Secondary: Students conduct a biotic survey in a local park, and based on their findings design a park management plan that they submit to the city manager.
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
What does Education for Sustainability look like in….
• Family & Consumer Sciences– Secondary: Students identify consumer habits
and home management practices that embody sustainable resource use.
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
What does Education for Sustainability look like in….
• Physical Education– Primary: Children engage in free play on outdoor
play structures that feature natural spaces and uneven terrain to develop dexterity and balance.
– Secondary: Classes are outdoor-based and include on yoga and mindfulness, as well as physical fitness.
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
What does Education for Sustainability look like in….
• Visual/Performing Arts, Music– Primary: Students create murals of their ideal
communities learning about perspective and dimension.
– Secondary: Students film and edit a documentary informing recent immigrants on how to use resources in the community.
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
"Your students have the potential to become an empowered and reflective group that’s thoughtful in
decision making and unified...for the common good of making their community a better place. Be prepared
to see your children become articulate speakers, letter writers, and problem solvers as they unify themselves
while talking to town and city managers about changes that would make a difference in everyone’s
lives'"-Anne Tewksbury-Frye,
Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project www.sustainableschoolsproject.org(802) 985-0331